Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus capable of protecting a print head from dryness with humidified gas.
Description of the Related Art
In an ink jet printing apparatus, when ink is not discharged from the print head for a long time, ink viscosity in a nozzle increases. This causes clogging of the nozzle. According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-245793, a portion including nozzles of a line print head is capped to form a small space (a discharge space), and humidified gas generated by a supply unit (a humidification mechanism) is supplied to the small space. Thus, moisture of the nozzles is retained, and dryness of the nozzles is restrained.
However, in a case where the humidified gas is supplied from the supply unit to the small space at a low speed, humidification of the nozzles consumes longer time. This cannot enhance humidification efficiency. Moreover, the supply of humidified gas at a low speed may cause liquefaction of the humidified gas in a middle portion of a path before the humidified gas reaches the small space. Consequently, moisture of the nozzles may not be retained sufficiently, and the nozzles may not be protected. As a length of the print head is longer, such problems become more significant.